Stuart win certified in Chester County supervisor race

Elections officials certified Shane Stuart’s win over Chester County Supervisor Carlisle Roddey on Friday, but it still is unknown when Stuart will take over the job of running Chester’s county government – or if Roddey will appeal the results.

The Chester County Board of Canvassers – the official name of the county election board – reviewed Tuesday’s ballots Friday and confirmed that Stuart won by more than 300 votes out of almost 5,000 cast, county elections director Terry Graham said. The vote total was 2,651 for Stuart and 2,293 for Roddey, Graham said.

Roddey, a Democrat, defeated Stuart in November in a close race in the county of 32,000 people, but the results were thrown out by state elections officials after Stuart appealed, claiming some precincts had improper ballots. The state ordered the new election that was held Tuesday.

If Roddey, 77 – in office for two different runs for more than 30 years dating back to 1974 – appeals the results, the election could be tied up in court for weeks. If not, Stuart, 41, a former policeman and military veteran who ran as a petition candidate and has never held public office before, could be sworn in as early as Wednesday.

Roddey has until noon Wednesday to appeal the election results, Graham said. Roddey could not be reached for comment Friday. He has said he has consulted with an attorney and was taking phone calls from supporters about potential “irregularities” in Tuesday’s election that could form the basis of an appeal. He has declined to specify what those irregularities were.

In Chester County, the supervisor, who is paid $81,370 per year, is chairman of the County Council and is in charge of all county government departments.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Stuart win certified in Chester County supervisor race."